Karuk is a wild plant with a distribution ranging from India, South China, and Southeast Asia. This plant is used as a traditional cooking ingredient, and its broad leaves are used as a wrapper for vegetables. Karuk also has potential as a medicinal plant.

This plant grows in tropical and subtropical climates with a temperature of 22–35°C. It can be found at altitudes up to 600 meters above sea level (m.a.s.l.), with an annual rainfall of 1,200–5,000 mm/year. It prefers sandy soil, moist loamy soil with a pH of 5–7, soil containing humus, and good drainage.

• Stem: Round, woody, has nodes, with aerial roots at the nodes, pale green color.

• Leaves: Simple (single), alternate arrangement, heart-shaped with a pointed tip (cordate-acuminate), and shiny green color, measuring 7–15 x 5–10 cm.

• Flower: Monoecious (unisexual flowers on the same plant), growing in an erect raceme shape.

• Fruit: Berry-like, slightly oblong, greenish-white color.

• Propagation: Generatively (seeds) and vegetatively (stem cuttings).

• Treats asthma, malaria, stomach ache, headache, mucus expectorant, treats gallstones, skin diseases such as panu (tinea versicolor), relieves bone and tooth pain, and has anti-inflammatory, anticancer, antituberculosis, antioxidant, antimalarial, and antibacterial activities.

• Saponins, polyphenols, flavonoids, essential oils, pellitorine, guineensine, brachystamide B, sarmentine, sarmentosine, 2 lignans, β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, 2-furanmethanol, 2-pentoic acid, benzene, benzaldehyde.